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METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING ARTICLES 0]?- FLEXIBLE MATERIAL.

No. 352,330. Patented Nov. 9, 1336.

(No Model.)

Jam mVW Z 4 W 2 S heets-'-She'et 2. I. B..KLEINERT & A. G. SQUIRES. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR. FORMING ARTICLES OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL. I

Patented Nov. 9,1886.

(No Model.)

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ISAAC KLEINERT, OF NEW YORK, AND ARTHUR O. SQUIRES, OF BROOKLYN,

' NEW YORK; SAID SQUIRES ASSIGNOR TO SAID KLEINEBT.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FORMlNG ARTICLES OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,330, dated November 9, 1886.

Application filed June 10, 1886.

- 1 for Forming Articles of Flexible Materials, of

which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure. 1 represents a perspective view of r 5 the main portion of an apparatus which we employ in carrying out our method; Fig. 2, a

side view of one of the partitions of said apparatus detached; Fig. 3, a similar view of a shaper to be inserted between the partitions of the part shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4, an end View of our machine with the material, shapers, covers, 850., in place; and Fig. 5, a transverse vertical section through theline XX in Fig. 1.

machine for forming or shaping articles made of flexible material, and is more especially adapted to the manufactdre of armpit-shields; and the invention consists in the method of operation and the apparatus by which we carry out our method, as hereinafter described, and then more particularly pointed out in the claims.

The objects of our invention are, first, to facilitate production; second, to economize material; third, to economize time in making the article; fourth, to prevent soiling the material by handling; fifth, to produce a more uniform stretching; sixth, to economize space in vulcanization where a vulcanizable material is used.

The appended drawings show what we consider the preferable form of apparatus by which our method is carried out; but we do not wish to be limited to the exact form shown therein, as it may be varied in many ways.

Referring now to the details of said drawings, Arepresents the main frame, consisting, essentially, of two side bars, a a, and two end Our invention relates to a method of and a Serial No. 204.795. (No model.)

pieces, b 72, each of which end pieces is provided with a series of grooves to receive the partitions or formers B, and a series of slots,

b b, as'shown plainly in Figs. 1 and 4. The

partitions B-are formed at their upper edge of the exact form the articles to be produced are to have at their upper edge, and are inserted, as shown, in the grooves in the end pieces, I). AtOisshowntheshapers or stretchi ers, whose exact form is shown in Fig. 3, and their lower edges are formed to correspond 6o precisely to the lower edge of the article to be shaped. v

AtD is shown a preferably perforated board provided with pins or buttons d, which pass or catch into holes formed in the fasteners or :55 latches E, which are hinged to the lower part or side bars, a a, of the frame. The sidebars are provided with grooves a, in which fit the holding-bars F, which are of such thickness that when a piece of the cloth'to be operated 7o on is placed over one of the grooves and-a bar, F, forced therein the cloth will be firmly held by the same. The frame is preferably made very nearly as long as the width of the goods which is to be used, and the number of the cells may be as many as convenient to handle in one frame.

The-method of using the apparatus in making dressshields andsimilar articles is as follows: YVe fasten one end of the material in one v of the grooves a by means of one of the bars F, and then place the material in the cells formed by the partitions. This we prefer to do by pressing it in with a series of ratherheavy but thinfiat metalbars, which areforced between the partitions one after the other until there is just sufficient material in each cell to form the article to be produced. This is done uni formly by means of the slots in the end boards,

with thin stiff wires G, stuck through the projecting ends of the material. We then insert the shapers G'into each of the cells, and then place the board Don them, and subject the whole to a gradual pressure until the shapers C'descend the extent to which the stretching is to be carried,when the fasteners E are raised and buttoned onto the buttons or pins d, and thus the s'hapers O are held securely in the desired position. Any other device may be used instead of the board, as long as the sameobj ect is obtained or the same functions performednamely, the pressing down and holding in the desired position of the shapers C. We then subject the whole machine and its contents to the action of any known method to secure the set of the shaped articles or material, according to the kind of goods under treatment.

In the case of a seamless dress-shield con taining vulcanizible rubber the whole apparatus and its contents may be put into the vulcanizer and treated in the usual manner of vulcanizing such articles, after which the material is removed from the frames and the edges cut by a die, which cuts or trims a large number at a single blow.

The advantages of this our new method and machine over all others known to us is strikingly apparent and of very great importance in cheapening the article and greatly facilitating its production. Heretofore the goods used for forming such articles of manufacture necessitated a great waste of material, as every piece had to be out much larger than the desired area of the article, to permit of the handling of it by the manipulator. In our improved method we waste practically no material, as only so much material is inserted into the cells as the area ofthe shields or otherarticles which may be under treatment requires, and the Waste is limited to the small portion necessarily allowed for the trimming of the edges. We

- thus save a very large quantity of goods or material, thereby reducing the cost of the pro duction. In the making of the article we obtain a still further saving, as our apparatus will turn out several dozen pairs of dressshields by the one operation described. In fact, the amount so produced is limited only by the number of cells ineach frame. The ordinary width of goods will produce from four to six shields to each cell, according to the size of the shield and width of the goods. The saving in labor, as compared with the handling of each-single shieldindividually, as usually done, is almost beyond calculation.

After the article is taken from the frames, when it has been set or vulcanized, another saving of timeis effected by trimming the edges of as many shieldsat one time as there are cells in the apparatus. This can be done by adie threads or meshes, and no injuryis done to the rubber, when rubber goods are used, which is not always thecase when the stretching is done singly by hand, or by tightly fitting male and female dies, which are sometimes employed.

By this process no tightly-fitting dies are needed to take out cockles or wrinkles on the cells, and repeating said operation until the necessary folds have been inserted in the cells, and finally pressing simultaneouslya series of stretchers into the cells, substantially as described.

2. lhe herein-described method of forming articles of flexible material, which consists in passing a fold of the material into one of a series of cells and temporarily holding the same while ano her cell is filled, then inserting another fold of the material into another of the cells, and repeating said operation until the necessary folds have been inserted in the cells, next pressing simultaneously a series of stretchers into the cells, then submitting the material to asetting operation, and finally cutting the different articles apart and trimming their edges simultaneously by a cut at right angles to the folds, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a machine for forming articles of flexible material, of a frame provided with a series of partitions forming cells between them adapted to receive folds of the material being operated on, means, as the pins G, for securing the edges of the material, a series of stretchers constructed to pass between the folds, and means, as the board D and fasteners E, for holding the stretchers in position, substantially as described.

4. The herein-described method of forming articles of flexible material, which consists in forcing the same between a series of partitions or formers, the outlines of whose upper edges are substantially the shape of the fold of the articles to be formed, then subjecting the same to vulcanization, and finally cutting said articles apart and trimming the same to shape simultaneously, substantially as described.

5. The combination, in a machine for for m-- ing articles of flexible material, of a frame provided with aseries of stationary partitions or formers whose upper edges are substantially the shape of the fold of the article to be formed, a series of movable shapers whose lower edges are substantially the shape of another fold or edge of the article to be formed,

and. means, as the board D and fasteners E, for I n testimony whereof we afifix our signatures, 10 holding the said shapers in position, substanin presence of two witnesses, this 8th day of tially as described. June, 1886.

6. The combination, in a machine for form- 5 ing articles of flexible material, of a frame I provided with the side bars, a, the slotted end bars, b, the partitions B, shapers 0, top Witnesses: board, D, and fasteners d'E, substantially as J 03. S. MICHAEL, described.- J OSEPH B. LYMAN. 

